The Road Hasn't Changed, The Game Has

R5 and R3 break new ground by reinventing the classic ride experience.

June 8, 2017, TORONTO, CANADA — Cervélo Cycles is proud to officially launch the new R Series, which has been fundamentally re-engineered to perform like never before. 

It doesn’t get any better than this for riders who live on a strict diet of road. With its pro fit, benchmark-setting stiffness and extensive aero and comfort benefits, the R5 is designed to take Grand Tours and Classics by storm. In fact, it already has: Team Dimension Data’s Omar Fraile won Stage 11 of the 2017 Giro d’Italia on the bike. Likewise, the R3’s race fit and weight savings have it primed to perform at an elite level.

“The R Series has always been at the forefront of classic road bike design thanks to our unique engineering-based commitment to raising the bar,” said Robert de Jonge, Cervélo’s Managing Director. “Now, every aspect of these iconic bikes — from geometry and technology to components and features — has been reinvented to perfectly suit every high-performance road cyclist.”

In conjunction with the launch of the new R Series, Cervélo’s “Till The End” marketing campaign features a dedicated microsite — rseries.cervelo.com — and a range of social media initiatives on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

A NEW PATH TO PROGRESS
With the physical limits of manufacturing materials being strained, and Cervélo’s engineering team eschewing gimmicky features, a new way forward was needed to reinvent the classic road bike. The good news: This is Cervélo’s specialty. A sweeping analysis of how road bikes are used revealed that three interconnected factors — comfort, fit, and handling/stability — are responsible for the most pronounced performance and experiential benefits. And Cervélo being Cervélo, stiffness, weight and aero benchmarks had to improve, too.

“The R Series has always been about achieving the lightest and stiffest solutions by including only those elements that need to be present,” explained Graham Shrive, Cervélo’s engineering design manager. “Now, we are using these uniquely efficient structural paths to focus on ride quality and experience.” 

COMFORT: Further, faster
Road riders at all levels no longer equate comfort with soft, slow bikes. Indeed, extra vertical compliance can reduce fatigue and, in turn, boost power output. Wheel manufacturers’ wind-tunnel testing has also shown that wider tires can actually deliver aero benefits. For these reasons, tire clearance for the new R Series has been widened to 28mm. Combine this with a Cervélo-engineered aero seatpost for the R5, and vertical compliance is further increased while improving aerodynamics.

FIT: Perfection for all
Data-driven fitting protocols and the overall trend toward a more TT-like riding position are both fuelling a new emphasis on fit. One of the real triumphs of the new R Series is that it provides a range that lets every rider find their ideal fit.

DDD pros and other more performance driven riders favour a lower front end, which is why Cervélo developed a new pro fit for the R5. At the same time, Cervélo’s renowned race fit has been maintained for the new R3.

STABILITY & HANDLING: Confidence is everything
A new handling geometry enhances stability and rider confidence with a lower BB and extended wheelbase.

The R5 and R3 are both available with either rim or disc brakes. While rim brakes are the standard, discs represent the future of road bike design. They deliver superior braking performance, especially in inclement conditions, and by designing the R5 Disc and R3 Disc around the latest technology Cervélo has achieved additional benefits: Extra lateral stiffness in the fork, and improved ease-of-use and safety.

STIFFNESS & WEIGHT: Bye-bye benchmarks
The new R series represents Cervélo’s stiffest-ever road frames, with stiffness-to-weight ratios that are fine-tuned to a range of high-performance riding styles. The DiData pros who tested the R5 are adamant that stiffness equals speed, and they got exactly what they want: 21% stiffer at the headtube and 13% stiffer at the bottom bracket for rim-brake models, and 18% and 26% stiffer, respectively, when equipped with discs. 

As a world-class climbing weapon it almost goes without saying that lightweight design was a top priority for the R Series, with the R3 and R3 Disc frames being 10% and 16% lighter.

AERODYNAMICS: More aero than ever
The new R5 boasts a 44-gram aero improvement over the previous generation. This is the result of an end-to-end aero improvement package that includes new Squoval Max tube shapes, a new seatpost, and an integrated all-carbon stem and bar. Featuring the same Squoval Max technology but a different fork, seatpost and cockpit, the R3 delivers a 17-gram improvement.

THE BEST BIKE FOR EVERY RIDER
Ultimately, the new R Series epitomizes Cervélo’s definition of exceptional ride quality: When a bike feels perfectly in tune with its intended use. 

“Our purpose-built approach has been consistently applied across the R, S and C series, as it gives riders the fit and handling options that perfectly suit their unique morphology and riding style,” said Antoine Ballon, Cervélo’s Global Marketing Director. “But the R Series is more than just a bike platform to us and to our riders. It fuels our passion and empowers our purpose, whether we are claiming a leader’s jersey, earning a Strava KOM, or pushing our limits while training for challenges yet to come. Beyond these mortal trials, there’s something more: The glory of oneness with the elements, with the road, and now, more than ever, with the bike.”

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
At launch, the R5 is available in three builds: Dura-Ace Di2 9150 for an MSRP of $9,000 USD; Dura-Ace 9100 for $$7,000 USD; and SRAM eTap for $9,000 USD. The R3 is available with Dura-Ace 9100 for $5,000 USD. Information on additional builds, including those for the R5 Disc and R3 Disc, will be available soon.

-Cervelo Cycles Inc.-

About Cervélo Cycles
For more than two decades Cervélo has passionately pursued its goal: Make every rider faster. From the very beginning Cervélo has stayed true to its unique, engineering-driven approach: Define and measure, test and refine, and then build the very best. This uncompromising process raises the bar with every new model, yielding lighter, stiffer and more aerodynamic bikes that help riders go faster and further with less effort. No wonder all five of Cervélo’s platforms — R Series (classic road), S Series (aero road), P Series (triathlon/time trial), C Series (endurance road) and T Series (track) — consistently dominate comparison tests and win awards from the most respected industry publications. It’s also why the Dimension Data and Cervélo Bigla pro teams, the Great Britain Cycling Team’s Olympic athletes, and top pro triathletes join legions of dedicated riders around the world in choosing Cervélo.